Poison Pen
by diva.gonzo
Summary: One-shot; complete. Ginny's about to leave for her assignment: covering the 2014 Quidditch World Cup. She is leaving Harry behind along with her three kids. Harry has to cope with his kids while juggling meals, energetic kids, and spilled milk. Rated M for lemon fluff in the first chapter, and other domestic fun. Cover art provided by the lovely and talented anxiouspineapples.


**A/N:** I got inspired by the Quidditch World Cup coverage last week and ran with it. How did Harry get that nasty scar on his cheek? With three kids, anything's possible.

**Rated M** for adult lemon fluff in the first section. Appearances by Harry and Ginny and their precious Hooligans; Romione with their poppets; Molly and Charlie and Fleur, too. (And y'all can see lil' Fred, and George is somewhere with Angie keeping watch and making galleons hand over fist.)

**A/N2**: My Barrister that I can barely afford wanted me to remind everyone that I don't own copyright or IP on Harry, Ginny, any Weasley, or even magical tents. I personally hate camping. It's too hard on the back. - _DG_

* * *

"Are you sure you're up for this? I mean, I'll be gone a week before you come to Patagonia?"

"Of course I'm sure. I'm their dad too, I reckon. We managed it well enough when you were gone three weeks the first time, and two weeks the last time."

"And the last time, Mum sent me a note that she took the kids off your hands because you were swamped with work, and then Fleur took them a couple of days when you had a problem."

Ginny leaned on her husband and pushed his hair out of his eyes. The early morning darkness of their bedroom was the only real solace they had without three kids clamoring for breakfast, or running through the house like hippogriffs, or someone breaking something in the house by accident.

"How could I know that some silly arsed sod would threaten to blow up the ferris wheel in Blackpool because he got mad for not getting a third ride around it? You know we take bombing threats seriously, especially after what happened in London a few years ago."

Harry felt Ginny playing with the hairs on his chest. "And the other?"

"Edwards called in with Dragonpox. I had to be at my desk those four days during the day."

"Likely story," Ginny whispered into the skin of his chest.

Harry shut his eyes and felt the tendrils of pleasure coursing over his skin along with the growing desire for his wife.

"Now, you know how to get ahold of me if you need anything before we I leave, right?"

Harry pulled his wife up to his face and kissed her to silence. "I got it, all of it. We can manage a week without you this time."

She smirked in the darkness.

"And if I need help, Molly's a fireplace away, and so is Fleur." Harry kissed her again. "I'm not completely incompetent. If I'm desperate, I'll call Angelina, or Audrey, or Merlin forbid, Ron and Hermione."

Ginny snorted quietly. "I know, and I'm just making sure." Ginny shifted to sit up on her husband. "So if we're going to have the kids with us all next week, and zero privacy, I better make the most of this morning before I pack my bags for Argentina."

Harry felt the cotton of his pants disappear off of his legs and his wife settle down onto his hips. He watched in the near darkness when she pulled the dark green nightie off of her body. She flung it away without a care in the world.

"Have your way with me, Mrs. Potter. Two weeks with the kids will be a long time to go without."

"Two weeks," she groaned under his touch. "You're barking. I plan on doing this to you once I get you alone for half an hour in our tent next to the stadium." She gripped his flanks with her knees, just like she would when riding a broom. "Three weeks was too bloody long back in May."

Harry reached for the side table and thrust his glasses on his face. His wife was enjoying the morning quiet while grinding on his hips. Harry enjoyed watching his wife take pleasure from their intimate time together. "Do you really think we'll be alone for an hour while at the Quidditch World cup?" Harry moaned in bliss. "Between the nephews and brothers and kids, we might be busy the entire time."

Ginny was lost to the exquisite touches of Harry's hands on her body. Making love to her husband was even better than any goal she scored on the Quidditch pitch. The feelings he could evoke, with a simple look, a caress or a whisper of kiss along her skin. Exploration of their youth gave way to the depth of emotions she felt under his skillful touches.

Her panting interrupted her ability to form cognitive words and sentences. "Kids, have to sleep, sometime, I reckon." Ginny threw her head back in bliss.

Harry grabbed her hips and was keeping cadence with her movements. "Bill and Fleur'll have'em. Teddy'll be with Victorie."

Ginny moaned. "George, Angie, kids, Charlie, crashing, them." Ginny ran her hands up into her titan locks. "Charlie loves Fred dearly." Ginny shifted and started moving faster. "Bugger, this is fantastic."

Harry pushed himself up onto his hands, wanting a closer look at his wife's attributes. "Lean forward, witch."

"Selfish bastard," she did as he asked and he enjoyed feasting on his flesh. Ginny shifted forward to circle her hips on his while he suckled her ample breasts. He heard her epithets building in coarseness. He knew she was running towards the edge of bliss.

Ginny pulled his head free of her breasts and locked lips with him. She tasted the salt on his lips and the vague remnant of the cinnamon toothpaste she bought for him last time. "Love you," she whispered across his lips.

His picked toad eyes stared back at her. "Love you too, so much," he growled before pulling her lips back to his.

Years of marriage settled the inferno they had for one another at the start of their physical relationship. There was still passion for one another, and a desire that hadn't been quenched after three kids. But their time was precious and they stole moments, like this one, in the early morning darkness of their sanctuary known as their bedroom.

Ginny kept up her motions while Harry wound his hands into her hair, snogging her through her movements. Lips and tongues swirled around one another, sharing pleasure. Love and Lust intertwined into one.

"Shite, Harry," Ginny moaned. She started shaking; losing the rhythm she'd built up.

"Hold on." Harry sat up completely and wrapped his arms around his wife. He flipped them over onto the bed and watched her settle into the pillows. She winked at him and he started moving, losing his rhythm almost immediately.

Even with his glasses on in the early morning darkness of their room, he still saw how beautiful his wife is. Her red hair was messy while spread out on the pillows and her chest was heaving under his ever-chaotic thrusting. Only the darkest freckles stood out this early in the morning. He didn't need to see them to know he'd counted and touched each one he could see.

"Fuck, Harry, quit mucking around."

Her epithets were growing coarse and earthy, even while she was only muttering them.

"Talk dirty to me, love. Let me hear you," He whispered to his wife writhing below him. He felt her hands snaking down between their bodies to rush her ahead of him. He pulled her leg higher up on his hip. She gasped.

"Shut it and fuck me, Potter."

"Already am, wench," Harry grinned in the twilight of their room. Harry pulled her ample hips even closer to his and felt stomach undulating under his hips. "Tell me more," he groaned. "Tell me what you want."

"Buggering Twat," she panted under his erratic thrusts. "Ohshite."

"Better hurry, witch," Harry felt his eyes beginning to roll back into his head.

"FuckHarry," she groaned while thrusting her chest in the air. "Fuckme!" Ginny's back bowed under his body and he felt her clamp down on his impatient member.

Harry kept going even while his wife was groaning to wake the kids. Thankfully the Auror-grade silencing charms on their room were holding. The tension snapped in his back and he groaned in bliss before collapsing on his panting wife.

They lay together while they attempted to remember how to breathe.

"Get off me, tosser."

Harry pushed up slightly and saw the grin on his wife's flushed face. "I thought I just did."

Ginny chuckled before shoving her husband into the pillow next to her. "Prat."

"Yeah, but I'm your prat."

"You are and I'm damn glad of it."

Ginny shifted and snuggled into his arms. "That was fantastic." She threw a sweaty leg over his and snuggled into his side.

Harry threw his arm over her shoulders and moved her hair out of his nose. "You're not so bad yourself, Mrs. Potter."

"I hope I'm not accosted and given too many free drinks this week." Ginny settled down into his warm embrace. "The last two times there they had me pissed if I mentioned my name in the drinking tents. It's bad enough being Ginny Potter, Quidditch reporter for _The Daily Prophet_. It's another when they realize who I was before I got married."

"Admit it, you love it." Harry kissed her temple. "How can they forget you? You were instrumental in the 2002 Cup when you flew for England."

"And the nice folks from Uruguay probably don't want to remember that match, do they?"

"But the Argentinians love you. You destroyed the Brasilian defense out on the pitch practically by yourself. You set a record that match, scoring 16 on the inept Brasilians."

"Yeah and then we fell to the bloody Bulgarians and that just put a cramp in my plans."

"Yeah, and then I didn't help one bit after the 2004 qualifying rounds, did I?"

Ginny put her finger on his lips. "I'm not begrudging our lot in life right now, Harry. We've got 3 hooligans called kids and we're both content in our career. So I had to change mine a couple of years early. So what? We've tossed enough gnomes over that issue."

Harry looked at his wife of 13 years. "And I know you miss being out there flying like a dragon is chasing your arse."

"I do, but having three kids with you was a better prize. I got to watch James and Al learn to fly with you, and I look forward to teaching Lily next year on an junior broom." Ginny kissed her husband gently before running her thumb across his cheekbones and down his jaw. "It's one thing to be away from you those first few years. You and Ron were busy helping catch the remainder of those sods, chasing down the last of the buggers who killed our friends. I wasn't going to sit on my arse waiting for you again. That year you were gone was terrible enough.

"But after we had the kids, and I got you home most nights? It's honestly no choice." Ginny kissed him languidly, and Harry responded in kind. "I had fun, and made plenty of galleons doing it. I also got what I wanted, which was my own accolades and merits. I wasn't _Harry Potter's girlfriend_ but I was _star chaser for England, Ginny Weasley._" Ginny pushed up to look at Harry in the early morning light. "Since I didn't go by Ginny Potter until after the World Cup, all that glory is mine." She leaned down and kissed her husband once again.

Harry's wand started rattling on the bedside table. "6am. Time to get up."

Ginny smirked. "That's rich since we've been awake."

She turned to roll out of their expansive bed. Harry watched her sauntering in the privacy of their suite in her skin. "Sure I can't convince you for one more roll in the sheets?"

Ginny turned and was sliding the straps to her brassiere over her shoulders. "Sorry, Love, but the Portkey is for 9am. Strange arsed thing is that I will be landing in Buenos Aires and it'll be 4am. Then I have to take another Portkey to Patagonia." Ginny stepped into her knickers while Harry whined pathetically. "And then I have to be at the Media tent at 8am for breakfast and the interviews for the day."

Ginny put on her sleep trousers that were lying next to the bed. "By the time my day ends, it'll be about 4am our time. I'm going to be knackered the first bloody day." She turned to Harry while she picked up the soft jumper from the floor. "But I have it easy. You've got the Hooligans."

Harry watched with sadness when his wife slipped the jumper over her torso. "But Mum'll be by at 1pm so I can go into the office for a little while."

"That'll help. I'm sure the kids will be starving by then."

"I can't decide what's worse: starving kids or a mucked up department. Both are a mess to clean up."

Harry pulled back the covers on their bed and rusted up the cotton pants his wife took off of his legs. He slipped into them before picking up his wand. A casual incantation and he ignored the rustling of the bed being made. "I certainly can't stand a mucked up department, not after everything Ron and I went through to get it there."

Ginny looked in the mirror of their en suite. "Speaking of my tosspot troll of a brother, when are he and Hermione and their little shadows coming over?"

"They'll be here Wednesday. We're all riding the same Portkey for Patagonia. But you've got the tent in your rucksack, right, along with everything you need?"

Ginny brushed her hair out and Harry watched in fascination. It was her ritual, regardless of everything else going on. 100 strokes before she left the room, and one hundred before bed. "I've also got plenty of wool socks and a fur lined cloak to keep me warm. Hermione informed me that it's bloody cold down there right now, seeing it's their winter, almost like Hogwarts in the middle of January." She smiled in the mirror back at her husband. "Merlin knows it's bad enough that they are sending Rita along for her gossip column this week. But having to share a booth with her at times is going to test my patience. If she says a word about you, I might have to make wings fly out her bum."

"Do you think you can keep your temper about her long enough to finish the reporting?"

Ginny put her brush down and gave her husband a stoic look. "As long as she doesn't go after you or the kids, I'll manage. But if she says anything about you, I'll have trouble holding my temper."

Harry snorted. "It's not like Pansy will fire you. You bring in the galleons as much as Rita does."

"Yeah, but she could put me on the Far East beat, covering Malaysia and Japan and Korea rather than the English leagues or covering the Continent."

Harry stepped into their bathroom and gave his wife a hug. "I doubt that. It's not like you speak the local languages. Besides," He kissed her gently on the nose, "she'd have to hear from me if she did make that barmy decision."

"Using your influence is a bad idea, Harry. You'd have to answer to Kingsley for it."

"Not if it's for personal reasons, I reckon."

Ginny stepped out of their bathroom. "Breakfast? Or just tea and toast?'

"Kids'll be up at 8, so I'll have them a full cook-up then. But starting tea and toast will work for me."

Ginny smiled. "Alright. I'll get my shower after you're done."

Harry watched his wife leave their bedroom and start their morning. "A week without her. Bugger."

* * *

"James, stop, now."

Harry was worn out from his rambunctious kids. Four days into Ginny's assignment and he was exhausted. How she handled three kids who were nothing but pepper up potion and cheering charms, he'd never know. Molly just smiled when she'd drop by, kiss him on the cheek, and go with the flow of her grandkids.

Maybe it was the fresh biscuits she'd bake when she'd come over. Or it was the decadent meals she made, from fried chicken to candied hams. The boys never got enough of Gramma's cooking.

But since she wasn't coming over today, since they were leaving for Patagonia via London, the kids would have to do with local cuisine.

But somehow the kids were being more rambunctious. He'd already scoured the kitchen three times, from the mess the kids made with the beans from their breakfast two mornings ago, and last night when Lily opened the bag milk and it went everywhere, including her new shoes.

Lily cried hard over messing up her new shoes. Then Daddy fixed it and it was all better.

And then there was Al putting his chocolate hands all over the kitchen after he found the stash of chocolate frogs in the cabinet and ate entirely too many, trying to find a Herpo the Foul card. A Floo call at 2am to Angelina helped straighten up that mess. She thankfully had some potion on hand that he was out of since Al's tummy didn't like that much chocolate in one evening.

"Al, put down that bottle of jam."

Harry tried to keep an eye on his kids while he was cooking up his breakfast. Bangers and eggs were his staple every morning. His desk job wasn't that demanding but he also trained with the new kids and he had to keep his strength up.

The older Aurors, those who were still field-qualified, took the kids out and trained them hard. It helped pass the wisdom from one generation to the next. Ron taught him that one. Blighters were getting bigger, smarter, and faster than he was. Or that was that he was getting older. The grey at his temples reminded him of some of the older Aurors in the department.

Ginny didn't mind it at all. She told him once she noticed that it made him look _distinguished_, whatever that meant. All he saw was that he was getting older. Chasing the kids around the house to keep them from destroying it was hard enough. Their antics were why he had quite a few more than Ron, but less than Hermione.

"Only a few hours before we leave for Patagonia," he sighed into his pan of fried eggs. He glanced behind him and saw the boys were almost finished with their breakfast, but his daughter's plate was untouched. "Where's your sister?"

Al shrugged while James finished eating his bite of eggs. "She said she needed to get something before we leave." Fortunately, Harry understood full-mouth speaking. He'd had years of practice with Ron.

Harry turned back to the skillet and turned the eggs out onto his plate, along with the bangers and toast already there. He looked up and had no time to shield himself from my daughter. Lily plowed into him on her toy broom in the kitchen. Harry reached out and grabbed the handle of the stove and missed. Instead, he grabbed the frying pan. It flew and before he could roll out of the way, it landed on his cheek before bouncing on the ground.

"Dad!" the boys yelled in tandem.

Harry lay on the ground, fighting like hell to keep from screaming epithets in pain. It didn't stop them from running through his head full tilt.

"Daddy," a whimper echoed in the kitchen. Lily was crying.

Harry sat up and adjusted his glasses on his cheek. He looked and saw Lily lying a few feet away on the tile of their kitchen, her toy broom broken, and holding her arm.

Harry ignored the warring pains, in his face and lower, and went to check on her daughter. He picked up his little girl and cuddled her in her arms. She was still crying. "Shhh. I got you."

He turned to his two sons, looking shocked. "James, Floo Gramma. Ask her to come over. Have her bring her bottle of skele-gro. Lily might need it."

"Yes Dad."

He watched proudly while his son jumped at his demands.

"Daddy!" she wailed. She balled one little fist into his shirt while holding the other one.

"Where do you hurt?"

Pathetic sobs drifted out from the soft wool of his jumper. He held her, rocking gently, while waiting for Molly to arrive.

Lily was calming down when Harry heard the Floo activate. "Gramma's here."

Harry looked up and saw Molly standing with the boys. "I came as quick as I could. James said there was an accident?"

"Yeah. Lily was riding her toy broom when she ran into me while I was working the stove." Harry shifted his daughter on his lap and winced when he saw how mottled in colors her arm already was. "I think she broke it, along with her broom, when she fell to the tile floor."

Molly pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Harry and Lily. "Come here, sweetie, and let me see what you've done. Gramma's here. We'll make it all better."

Molly watched how Lily moved around gently, shielding her arm from touching anything.

"Harry, can you check her head. I want to make sure she didn't crack the floor with it."

Harry pulled his wand and performed the rudimentary incantation on his daughter. Gold swirls revolved around her head before dissipating. "Her head's fine."

Molly pulled her wand from her apron and waved it around the little girl. Red swirls of magic settled onto her arm and she saw the flash of black.

"You're right, Harry. She broke her arm." Molly looked at Harry with her unspoken question. He nodded before getting up onto his knees. "Gramma's got to set your arm, dear. Daddy's going to hold you while I do it. It will hurt for a second before it feels better. Can you handle that?"

Lily looked from her Gramma to her Daddy. "Sorry Daddy."

"I'm fine. But you're being a big girl. We'll get through this, ok?"

Lily nodded and turned back into Harry's vest.

"Grab my jumper real tight, ok?" He felt her little fist ball up. "You two might want to turn your head when Gramma does this." He waited until they did as he asked. "Alright, I think we're ready."

Molly took a deep breath and motioned her wand, uttering the incantation. They heard a pop and Lily screamed for just a second. Harry's shirt was instantly wet again. "It's ok. Gramma's done. Just some nasty potion to help the bones knit back together and you'll be better tomorrow."

Molly replaced her wand into her apron. "James, be a dear and get Lily's things. I think I'll go ahead and take her back to my House so we can bake some biscuits this afternoon." Molly gave Harry another look. "That way she can also rest up some in Grampa's chair reading today while her arm heals up. How does that sound?"

Harry grinned. "That works for me. That way I can get the boys things together for our trip."

Molly pulled a plaster from her apron and laid it delicately on her granddaughter's arm. "This means you have hurt yourself and need to take care today."

Bright green eyes looked up at her grandmother. "Yes Grandmum. I will."

"But we'll make some biscuits and bake some bread. Molly and Lucy will be with us, along with Roxanne. You'll have fun with the cousins, right?"

James came in carrying two duffels and a rucksack. "Here Gramma; here's Lily's things."

"Be a dear and help me with them back to my house. Then I'll send you home straightaway so you don't miss your Portkey."

Harry watched his oldest helping Molly and his daughter to her house. Al sat quietly and nicked the last of James' banger from his plate.

"Is Lily going to be better?"

"Yeah. She's not yet interested in Quidditch. So this is for us and Mum. Next time, we'll take Lily."

"Dad? What's wrong with your face?"

Harry stood up from his younger son and went to the loo around the corner from the kitchen. He turned on the light and saw a huge gash on his cheek, right below his glasses. 'Bugger,' he thought while opening the cabinet for some dittany.

"Dad!"

Harry stopped and closed the cabinet. "What James?"

"Gramma says she needs you for a few. Lily's crying that she can't find her dolly."

"Alright. Tell Gramma we'll be over in a few. Which Dolly?"

Harry left the bedroom and went to the foot of the stairs of their cottage.

"It's Miss Kitty," James yelled from the fireplace.

"Alright, I'm getting it. Then we're going to Gramma's for a few before getting ready to leave."

Harry trudged up the stairs to Lily's bedroom to hunt for the elusive Miss Kitty.

* * *

Everyone landed with a thud. Some were on their feet, namely Ron, while the rest were either wobbling on their feet, like Hermione was, or breathing frantically to keep from being sick. Harry smirked that the two little add-ons to their trip, namely his niece and nephew, took to the travel better than his own kids. "You said Rose and Hugo weren't broom riders. How are they doing better than my Hooligans?"

"I dunno, mate, but I reckon it's all those hours of throwing them in the air with my wand that did it."

Harry looked at his best friend, sister in everything important, and sister-in-law. "Alright there Hermione?"

Hermione stood up with Hugo and dusted the sand off of the front of her denims and gave Ron a look. "At least there is some benefit to manhandling our children when they were smaller."

"Hermione, the kids loved it."

She looked at her two children and saw Hugo's snaggle-toothed grin. "Daddy fun! Do it again?"

"Maybe once we're at the tent, Hugo." The little one smiled at him.

Hermione shook her head in resignation. "I'm sure he is," She muttered back. "Uh, Harry, what's wrong with your face? Looks like someone took a butter knife to your cheekbone."

"Oh, that was an accident earlier today. Lily was riding her broom in the house, probably trying to imitate the boys and ran into me at full speed."

Ron laughed. "She hit you in the face while on her broom? Those toy brooms don't go above three feet, I reckon. Were you playing Hippogriff with Al?"

Harry blushed while watching the boys run around ahead of them. "No, she hit me somewhere else tender and I spun and a hot skillet landed on my cheek."

Hermione pulled her wand from her holster on her other arm.

"It's fine, really. I was more worried about Lily. She landed wrong and broke her arm."

"Bloody hell, Harry. Did you take her to St. Mungo's?"

"Nah. We called for Molly and she got everything taken care of straight away. Lily's there with her 'til we get back."

"You know folks are going to talk," Ron said while they started to make their way through the crowds towards their camping area.

"And that's any different from any other day of the year in my life?"

Four sets of eyes looked at Harry while he was keeping an eye on his sons walking ahead of him. "Look, if Rita's here, like Ginny says, she's going to get a jab in somewhere. She's a harpy and not in a good way." Harry grabbed Al before he could get taken in at one of the booths. "She just better watch what she says around Ginny. She's not taking anything off that shriveled hag."

"Oh, I think Rita might be on her best behavior."

Harry looked sideways at his two best friends and their two kids. "What did you do, Hermione?"

"Well, she didn't out Ron, that's for sure. If she'd said a whisper, we'd have ruined her."

"What else?"

"But she did question whether not Ron was the father of our kids. I certainly know he was."

Harry shook his head. "She didn't. Please tell me she didn't say that I was the dad? That'd be the fourth time."

"No, this time she said that Charlie was."

Harry stumbled over a rock he must have tripped on. "Charlie? No way."

"Yeah. She said something about Ministry documents and verifying the information at St. Mungo's."

"Daft drunken bird must have thought that listing family was a paternity. Bloody stupid if you ask me."

"But we nailed her. She paid up before it even went before a full bank of the Wizengamot. By listing the kids as the plaintiff, with us as their representatives, she had no legs to stand on." Hermione gave Harry a sidelong look. "The Mugwump agreed with my litigation and she paid up. The kids now have a small trust for Hogwarts."

Harry kept watch on his sons looking at everything and nothing. Rose was holding her Mum's hand and watching the booths. Hugo was looking at the kids playing on the brooms over in the fields to understand what was being said. Ron shifted him to his other hip while Hermione kept Rose on the outside in her wand hand.

"How much?" Harry mouth silently.

Hermione held her hand out and wiggled all her fingers.

"Wow!" Harry mouthed back.

"Each," Hermione added onto the statement.

Harry uttered an epithet silently.

"And we also used one of the Wheezes Howlers on her." Ron muttered in his other ear.

"Blimey, Ron. I'm surprised we didn't get an owl from Pansy about that one."

"Yeah, we are too. But we never heard a complaint for it."

"Maybe's it's cause we named her in the defamation suit as well. But her barrister stopped by my office that evening and she settled up."

"Al, stop. Put that down now."

The three turned towards the precocious son and saw him bashfully put back the Brasilian flag he'd touched. "We'll go out to get flags and shirts after we get to our tent. We're seeing Mum first before that. Agreed?"

Al walked with his Dad while James was swiveling his head all around.

"Daddy, I'm hungry."

Ron turned to his son who had spied some pastries on a table. "Once Mummy has the tent up, she'll get you something to eat. Alright Hugo? Maybe some biscuits for being such a good boy?"

The family traversed the various tents and hawkers with their wares to eventually stop at the checkpoint to the VIP campground. They were inspected by the wizard on duty before passing through the wards into the area.

"You three, go find your cousins and play for a bit. I need to find Mummy and speak with her."

"I'll go on and set up the tent. You two can talk for a spell, if you want."

The three older kids ran off in search of Fred and Louis.

"Here, you take him since he's hungry. Harry and I'll walk the wards for a spell."

"I'll have tea ready when you get back," Hermione said after she put Hugo on her hip. "Come along Hugo. Let's get you some biscuits and fruit slices." She gave her husband a peck on the cheek before walking off towards the empty slot next to Harry and Ginny's tent.

The two men watched Hermione walk away before turning the other direction.

"Ron? I thought you said the kids weren't coming with you on the trip. I thought they were going with their grandparents to Italy."

"They did but Hugo got homesick so I got a Portkey to Milan and met them at their hotel. When Rose saw me she wanted to come home too."

"That must have been pricy, getting a Portkey on such short notice."

"Yeah, it set us back some galleons but Hermione didn't mind. She missed the kids like she does every time they go see her parents."

The men walked around the perimeter of the VIP area, surveying it for any potential weak spots. "But did I hear right? Hermione said that the news article didn't out you? We'd have been on our arse if that got out."

"Yeah, I know. I guess it means that how we have it set up is working brilliantly."

"And you working with George is the perfect cover."

"Fewer people pay attention to a shop owner than they do an Intel Auror. I can travel a lot easier without the scrutiny of where I go."

Harry waved at Dean and Seamus, sitting in front of their tent drinking something from huge porcelain mugs.

"And even fewer see me leaving the shop when needed for something at the office."

"There's nothing like a private fireplace on a secure Floo network into the Auror department."

"And there's nothing like turning the other flat at the Wheezes into my office."

The men looked at one another and laughed.

"You know, for looking like a ginger headed troll, you're not so bad at your job." Harry smacked him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, and for a blind specky goblin git you're a decent Auror, too."

The men finished their walk around the perimeter and found Hermione standing in the chilly afternoon air holding a cup of tea in her hands. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go round up my little shadows. I'm sure their Mum has missed them while she's been here."

"And I need to find my ever growing daughter. Rate she's growing she'll be taller than Hermione when she's starting Hogwarts."

"And you're complaining?"

Ron snorted. "Hardly. But I'm sure Hermione will."

Ron walked off towards their tents in search of biscuits, tea, and his family.

"Daddy!"

Harry turned and saw James flying around on a junior broom, courtesy of his cousin Fred. "What are you doing?"

"Fred said it was alright!"

James swooped around him while shooting past the myriad of people in the area.

"Stay in the wards!"

James banked hard and turned around the tents. He landed smoothly next to his cousin Fred.

"Where's Al?"

"He's with Uncle Charlie in Uncle Bill's tent."

Harry stalked along the line of tents to the one with the open flaps. He stuck his head in and saw Fleur waving at him. "He's in here with Uncle Charlie," she said. "Over there by the wireless."

Harry walked over to his sister-in-law and kissed her on both cheeks. "Glad you came, _ma chere_. Someone has to keep these old men in line, I reckon."

Fleur waved her wooden spoon in the air. "'Tis nothing, really. The Weasley men are all the same: keep them fed and supplied with firewhiskey and they are content."

Harry laughed. "You do know us so well."

Harry went into the living area of the tent and found Al being tickled by his favorite Uncle.

"Alright there Charlie?"

"Oh yeah. This little toad and I have some catching up to do."

"Send'em over when you're done tormenting him."

"Dad!"

Harry walked out to the sounds of laughter from his son.

Harry walked through the remaining tents towards his, looking around for his wife. Next to their tent was Ron and Hermione's, in the garish Orange Ron loved. Harry shook his head and ducked into his own.

"Ginny?"

"In here," came a response.

Harry shed out of his dragonskin jacket and took off the scarf around his neck. He walked to the cooking section of their tent and found his wife working over the stove with a kettle for tea. "We're here, Love, and the boys are playing already."

Ginny turned and smiled before she frowned. "Oh my. What happened?"

Harry reached up and touched his cheek. It felt warm to the touch and stung a bit under his callouses. "It happened this morning. Lily was flying her broom in the house."

"She didn't. I've fussed at that girl."

"I know, but she was excited. She was on her toy broom and was flying in the house. She turned the corner hard, I guess, and nailed me."

"But toy brooms don't get more than three feet off the ground."

"Did I say she hit me in the cheek?" Harry cheeked back.

"She didn't!" Ginny ran her hands over the front of his robes. "Nothing else is hurt, I hope."

"It hurt quite a bit, I reckon, but I forgot everything else when I heard her crying."

Ginny put the kettle on and pulled her wand from her sleeve. "Want me to fix it?" She prodded it gently with her fingertips.

"I could probably use some burn paste for it. It stings some now."

"But a burn?"

"Yeah. When I fell, I grabbed the hot frying pan and it bounced off my face."

"But you said Lily was crying."

Harry stilled his wife's hands on his face. "I did. When she ran into me, she must have crashed too. She broke her broom and broke her arm when she landed wrong on the kitchen floor."

"Harry!"

"It's alright. I had James Floo-call Mum and she came over straight away. I held Lily while Molly tended her arm. She'll be right as rain when we get back from here."

"So that's why she's not with you: she stayed with Mum at home." Ginny sighed. "I know she'll love storytime with Dad when he gets off work."

"You know taking a Portkey when you're sick or injured is not a good idea."

"But she was so excited to come."

"And we'll see about bringing her to the next one with the kids. But since she's six, she's not missing much right now." Harry pulled Ginny into a hug and kissed her on the temple. "I missed you."

Ginny pulled his head down for a sensuous kiss. "I love you too."

Ginny pulled back when sounds of children were at the front of their tent. "Tonight, maybe?"

"Either that or in the morning," she whispered across his lips.

"Mum! Dad! Look what we've got!"

The couple turned and saw their children racing into the tent with huge hats in their hands. "Look what Luna got us."

"Aren't they terrific?"

They looked at one another and then back at their boys. "They certainly are."

* * *

_**"... young Albus is applauding, doubtless at the prompting of his publicity hungry father - my colleague, Ginny Potter, is approaching me, no doubt with another tedious correc-"**_

Ginny balled up her fist and punched the decrepit hag in the chest, knocking her out of her chair.

"_**Rita Skeeter has taken unaccountably ill with what some are calling a jinx to the solar plexus. As celebrations continue here in the Patagonian Desert, we at the Daily Prophet sincerely hope that you have enjoyed our World Cup coverage from Argentina. Next week, the National Gobstones League comes to Birmingham! But in all honesty... don't bother."**_

Ginny broke the quick scribe pen in half and stood over the older gossip reporter at her feet. "My husband has never, ever been publicity hungry," Ginny growled. She knelt down getting nose to nose with the bane of her continued existence. "Harry has never wanted the attention. Ever. But so you're clear, you have a go at me all you want. I get that you're a bitter hag and have nothing else to look forward to in life. But my husband is a terrific father, and an even better husband. You wish you had a man half as good as him in your life." Ginny snorted. "I was going to tell you how Harry got hurt, but you'd only twist what I tell you into something poisonous and salacious." Ginny stood up in her welsh green dragonskin boots. "Anything else I'd tell you wouldn't make it to the pages correctly. You only write and print what you feel like. You're bitter and miserable and will be nothing more than a gossip columnist. And you can print that."

Ginny turned her back on the old woman on the floor.

"I'll have you fired for this, hitting me like a bloody Muggle!"

Ginny turned and gave her a nasty stare. "Would you, now? Last time I checked, you're only a hag with a poison pen. You've been the same washed up gossip columnist since we first met you."

Ginny picked up her satchel and walked back to the older woman on the floor. She knelt down again and shoved one manicured digit right at Rita's nose, pushing her obnoxious yellow glasses back up on her face.

"I'm the one person you wish you could be. I'm the one that the readers turn the pages for, to find my columns on the back pages. Quidditch news sells as many papers in a week than your column does in a month." Ginny picked her satchel back up and adjusted her matching green dragonskin jacket. "I'm the reason you still have a job. So I wonder who Pansy would keep first, you or me."

Ginny stepped over the old woman on the floor and stopped at the door. "And so you know, you harpy, I got the assignment because I'm a damn good reporter. See, I learned from you what I didn't want to be, as a writer and reporter." She smiled. "I don't need a poison pen to keep my readers."

Ginny walked out the door.

* * *

**A/N3:** Quotes in the last section courtesy of Insider Pottermore. Link available upon request. - _DG_


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